Angel remembered what the history books had said while she turned the powerful card over in her hands. The Timelord, or 'Temporal Machine God,' cards had been used by an entity known only as Z-ONE during his battle against the hero Yusei Fudo for the fate of the future and New Domino City many years ago. According to what was written, the Timelords were a series of cards which were almost invincible by duelling standards. It had been a miracle that Yusei Fudo had been able to defeat them and save the city, along with the future, from Z-ONE's aim of destruction. But now for Zak to possess one of the Timelords and casually give it to Angel was a wonder in itself. Metaion, the card Angel had been given, couldn't be destroyed by battle or by card effects and could be easily Normal Summoned without tribute if Angel possessed no monster on her field. However, despite its 0 Attack and Defence points, its true power came from its ability.

If Metaion was to battle then, at the end of the Battle Phase, all other monsters on the field would be returned to their owner's hands and the opponent would take 300 points of damage for every monster returned. Not to also mention that Angel would take no battle damage from Metaion if it was in Attack mode. However, the only drawback was that the Timelord would return to Angel's deck during her next Stand-by Phase; meaning she'd have to wait until she drew it to be able to use it again. Angel didn't know whether or not she wanted to use such a card in her deck. She knew it was a Fairy-Type, and that did help her deck type; but this card had been used by one of the most powerful villains in all of Duel Monsters history. That very fact sent a shudder down her spine whenever she picked it up.

She then heard the bathroom door open and saw Zak exit the bathroom shirtless. Angel realised she'd just spent about 10 minutes sitting and staring at a card. Zak had noticed this and sat down opposite her.

'Can't decide whether to use it?' Zak asked meaningfully.

'How'd you get this? Or any of your deck?' Angel questioned in return.

Zak nodded and begun to explain, 'I found the Malefic cards I use from my own duel ghost's scattered deck. He had a few other cards I found useful and I began to build it up from there. This deck is a Machine-Type deck; combining the Malefic Cyber End Dragon with two specific 'Machina' cards: Machina Gearframe and Machina Fortress. These cards are the backbone of the deck, all being easy to bring out and have useful effects I need to take down the Numbers.'

'But where did you get them?' Angel persisted.

'I collected them from duel ghosts I defeated,' Zak confessed, 'I guess that's not very nice, but there wasn't much choice. I bested duel ghosts and searched their decks before they disappeared so I could find the perfect cards I needed to finish this deck. Eventually I made the Malefic and Machina build with the Skill Drain component to stop the Numbers' anti-destruction by battle effect.'

'And Metaion?'

'After a while of searching, I came across a certain collector of rare cards who had tried to make a replica of Z-ONE's own Timelords; the result is the one you hold in your hands. I would have given you 'Sephylon, the Ultimate Timelord,' but the collector had only made Metaion.'

Angel gave Zak a small smirk, 'You would've given me one of the most powerful Duel Monsters cards in all of history, but you had to settle for less powerful but certainly devastating monster. Sounds like you.'

Zak smiled when he saw that Angel was feeling better.

'Seriously though, this card alone can take down the Egyptian God Cards! So thank you for this, I'll put it to good use,' Angel said, with a warm smile forming on her lips.

'Egyptian Gods…' Zak said slowly, 'That would have been a better choice! Ah, I wish I'd thought of that.'

'Zak, this is fine. It's a Fairy-Type, so it works better in my deck than the Gods. And apparently they only work if you happen to be connected to the ancient past.'

'True. But there's only one downside to these cards I obtained from the alternate timestream,' Zak said calmly, 'They're from that timestream and can only exist while it exists. However, since it's gone now; they should've disappeared. I assume that they'll now only exist while Number Zero still exists. So when we defeat it; these cards will probably disappear.'

'Then you'll have to keep your promise of returning to your normal deck.'

Zak smiled again and nodded.

'Alright then, I'll use this Timelord; but only if you promise me that you won't go doing anything stupid like saving me again!' Angel said with confidence.

'I didn't think saving you was a stupid idea at the time; but you have a deal,' Zak replied with the hint of a grin.

'And sweetie?'

'Yeah?'

'Put a damn shirt on, you're making me blush.'

Zak gave a small laugh as he stood up and nodded warmly. He headed off back to the bathroom as Angel added the new Timelord card to her deck. She noticed that the card had a faint blue glow compared to the rest of her deck; proving that it had definitely come from the alternate timestream, the cold Heartland. She was at least relieved that Zak did not plan on using that execution deck he'd made forever and would return to using his ace card sooner or later. She reached into her extra deck and pulled out his Number Thirteen. She instantly sensed sadness around the card; it missed its owner. And to think that this very card had attempted to possess Zak and destroy him only a few days before Zak had been trapped in the alternate timestream. Angel then retrieved Zak's Chaos Number and felt the same sadness. She still couldn't believe that Zak had so easily pushed them aside.

Angel sighed and hoped that the original personality of her friend would return after their ordeal was over. Then she remembered what that ordeal was: defeating Number Zero again. Using Metaion now seemed so much more like a better idea now that she understood what was happening. A powerful card to counter a powerful card, Angel thought. But now that she knew that Kite's duel ghost possessed the Numbered Overlord, she didn't know whether or not Metaion or even Zak's new deck could take it. Kite had taken her soul and had almost take Zak's at one point and now that his duel ghost, which knew no mercy, was combined with the most destructive card that ever existed; Angel knew that this was a fight that may not end with their victory. But she clung to the hope that Zak knew what he was doing. Even if he was different, she had to trust him.

That night saw the two friends lying awake on Angel's bed. Both knew that there'd be a few more duels tomorrow between them and the Barians as well as the Numbers. Angel looked at Zak lying next to her. His expression was locked in thought and he stared into space. He was obviously still worried about Number Zero and Angel couldn't blame him. But he broke his train of thought so he could smile at her when she cuddled up to him. She laid her head on his chest and he put his arm around her.

'I'm glad you're home,' Angel whispered.

'As am I,' Zak replied softly.

The amount of confusion and emotion during the day had caused them both to be worn out, and so sleep came to them early to relieve them of their worries of the days to come. Both Zak and Angel welcomed the relief; even if it was only temporary. No doubt reality would drag them back in the morning; but sleep right now was a godsend.